Letters to the editor

Protesters, comprising local residents and international activists with a rag-bag of diverse causes, made their presence felt at Hamburg. Those in the guise of zombies not only stole our eyes, but also made a symbolic statement.

Published: July 13, 2017 5:39 AM

G-20 protests should be taken seriously

Protesters, comprising local residents and international activists with a rag-bag of diverse causes, made their presence felt at Hamburg. Those in the guise of zombies not only stole our eyes, but also made a symbolic statement. Heavily outnumbered by cops in full riot gear, the demonstrators succeeded only partially in disrupting the G20 meeting. But the legitimate concerns raised by them over capitalism, climate change and conflicts resonated with the world. Their voices to make ‘raising living standards of the world’s impoverished masses’, ‘respecting basic human rights’ and ‘protecting the environment’ the priorities cannot be said to have impacted greatly on the summit talks, though. Driven by the base motive of profit-making, unbridled capitalism with “an inbuilt propensity to monopoly and exploitation” has widened the inequality between rich and poor and created a world in which power lies in the hands of corporations rather than governments and corporate interests take precedence over people’s interests. Another issue of existential importance is climate change. All nations except the US have agreed that the Paris climate accord is irreversible and pledged to implement it swiftly. Realising the full gravity of climate change, the global community should indeed act before it is too late.

— G David Milton, Maruthancode

Family affair

Donald Trump would have you belief that affairs of the state are a family affair, what with his daughter Ivanka Trump sitting in his stead at G-20 meetings and his son, Donald Trump Jr, seeking Kremlin’s help to rout his Democratic opponent, Hilary Clinton, during the American elections last year. Shame, he can’t think of the planet as one family and support action against climate change.